Skin
by Daisyangel
Summary: An alternative season 3.11 "Nobody Knows" Simon and Deena face the hardest thing in their relationship. Please R/R!
1. Chapter 1

A/n, this is an alternative episode for s 3.11 "Nobody Knows" What if Deena's results weren't so encouraging. I was inspired by aarent and the story "Ain't No Sunshine" Read it's an awesome story! Anyway, here's my fic. So read and review, please. ----------------

Simon Camden waited anxiously for his girlfriend Deena Stewart to get to school. She'd told him yesterday that she was going in for a checkup to see if her leukemia that she'd suffered from seven years ago was back. He was still angry at his father for not telling him that he'd known Deena before she'd met Simon, but he understood things people told his dad were confidential. Looking up he saw her walking towards him. The expression on her face was enough but he still needed to hear it from her.

"Hey," he greeted standing and hugging her tightly. As his arms wrapped around her the young girl burst into tears.

"It's b-b-back, Simon. The cancer's back." Feeling tears well up in his own eyes Simon tried to blink them back.

"We'll get through this together, I promise. I'm always here for you, all of my family is." Sniffling Deena nodded her head.

"I start my first treatment next week."

"I'll come with you."

"No, Simon, I don't want you to do that. You'll miss school."

"I don't care about school. I care about you."

"I don't want you to see me like that," she argued gently. Reaching out he tilted her face so she'd look at him.

"No matter how you look you'll always be beautiful to me. Besides I could never let you go through this alone," Simon responded. Just then the bell rang and the two seperated to head to their respective classes.

TBC?

A/n, short I know, but this is just a set up chapter. Please read and review.


	2. Chapter 2

Arriving home all the kids put their backpacks in their rooms before hurrying down to the kitchen for the cookies and milk Annie had waiting for them. Happy barked when she saw Simon coming down the stairs. Smiling slightly Simon scratched her behind the ears. A heavily pregnant Annie was kissing Eric when Simon walked in.

"Matt's at the library but he said he should be home for dinner," Annie said.

"That's good," Eric replied.

"How was your day at school, Simon?" Annie asked. He thought about just saying it was fine, but then he realized he needed his parent's help to help him get through this.

"Deena got the results of her check up," he began.

"And?" his mother prompted.

"The leukemia's back," Simon answered softly as he started to cry.

"Oh, Simon," Annie gasped pulling her youngest son into her arms. Eric wrapped his arms around both of them trying to comfort him.

"What can we do? I promised Deena I'd be here for her through everything," Simon informed them.

"I'm not sure yet, we can talk to her parents and see what they think," Eric suggested.

"She has her first treatment on Monday and I want to go with her."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea, sweetie," Annie cautioned.

"Why not?" Simon argued.

"Because she'll be really sick and I'm sure she doesn't want you to see her like taht," she responded.

"That's what she said, but I don't care what she looks like. She's still beautiful to me and I wanna be there for her, so can I miss school on Monday to go with her? Please, Mom, Dad? I won't go to every treatment, but the first one it feels like I should."

"Your mother and I need to talk about it, why don't you go upstairs and get started on your homework. We'll call you when it's time for dinner," Eric said.

"Okay," Simon said hugging his parents before heading for the stairs. --------------------

"Poor Simon, poor Deena. I hope we can help," Annie said quietly.

"Me to, Annie. I just hope Simon isn't getting in over his head."

"What do you think about letting him go to be with Deena?"

"As much as I don't like putting him in that kind of situation I think he can handle it. He wants to be there for her. I think we should let him," said Eric.

"Okay, I agree, we'll talk to him later this evening." Just then the timer on the oven went off indicating that dinner was done. Just then Matt walked into the house heading for the kitchen.

"Hey, Matt, would you tell everyone it's time for dinner?" Annie requested.

"Sure Mom," Mat said climbing the stairs. --------------

"Can Hooey have chocolate milk?" Ruthie asked.

"No, not tonight, Ruthie. He can have regular milk, though," her father answered. Nodding Ruthie sat down ready for dinner.

"Let's pray before we start eating," Eric said reaching for his wife's hand. Everyone clasped hands.

"Can I say the prayer, Dad?" Simon asked.

"Go ahead, Simon."

"Dear god, thank you for the food yo have given us, thank you for my family and friends. Please watch over Deena and let her know I'm always going to be there for her. In jesus name we pray, ae men."

"ae men," Everyone echoed before picking up their forks and digging in. -----------------

After dinner Matt volunteered to help his mom clear the table.

"Any idea what's wrong with Simon?"

"Deena told him today that the check up revealed that her leukemia is back," Annie explained.

"Poor kid, it's not fair to either of them," Matt said.

"No, it's not," Annie agreed.

"Mary, Lucy, it's your night for dishes," Annie called out. Grumbling the two girls walked into the kitchen and began rincing off the dishes and placing them in the dish washer.

"I'm gonna go talk to him," Matt said, jerking his thumb towards the back door where Ruthie and Simon had walked through a few minutes before. ------------------

"Hey, Ruthie, Simon," Matt greeted.

"Hey, Matt," Ruthie cried hugging him tightly. Smiling Matt lifted her and settled her on his lap.

"Your almost to big to do this," he said as he tickled her. The eight-year-old giggled.

"Mom told me what's going on with Deena, you wanna talk about it?"

"It's not fair, I'm so angry. Why does this have to happen to her? She's a good person."

"Cancer doesn't just affect bad people, Simon. You know that, Grandma Jenny had cancer and she was a good person, wasn't she?" The blonde nodded in acceptance.

"It still doesnt make it fair, though."

"No it doesn't," Matt said on a sigh.

"I wanna go with her for her first treatment on Monday. Mom and Dad said they had to talk about whether they'd let me go."

"You know it will be hard. She may get sick," Matt explained.

"Yeah, but I want her to know that I care about her and won't leave her to do this alone," the 13 year old responded.

"Deena's lucky to have someone like you on her side," Matt complimented pulling his little brother in for a hug. Ruthie had ran inside to watch a movie with Hooey before she had to get a bath.

"Thanks, Mat."

"No problem, that's what I'm here for. You can call me anytime. I'm familiar with the anger that goes along with someone you care about having cancer. You know Mom will talk to you anytime to," his brother reminded him.

"Yeah, I know," he replied.

"Well I've got to go, I need to get back to the library to study, but I'll call you later."

"Okay, thanks for the talk, oh, and Matt?" Simon called as Matt got to his feet.

"Yeah?"

"I love you," Simon told him.

"I love you to, Simon," Mat responded before hugging the younger boy tightly then releasing him to head for his car and head back to the library for a couple more hours of studying. -----------------

A few hours later Simon had finished his homework and was about to head up to bed when he heard his mom call his name from the living room. Making his way into the living room, he sank down on the couch next to his heavily pregnant mother.

"We've talked about you going to be with Deena on her first daay of treatment, and here's what we've come up with," Annie explained.

"Well, can I?" Simon asked eagerly.

"As long as it's okay with Deena's parent's it's fine with us," Eric informed him.

"Thank you!" Simon cried smiling from ear to ear. While he didn't like the reason he'd have to go to the hospital he'd do it if it meant being their for Deena.

"We can call them tomorrow after school, now head on up to bed," Annie said gently.

"Night Mom, Dad," Simon said hugging first one parent then the other before climbing the stairs to his room.

TBC?

A/n, read and review!!


	3. Chapter 3

A/n, thanks for the reviews. Keep it up. Sorry for the delay, RL is nuts! P.S. I can't remember Deena's parent's names or if we even know them, so I'm making them up. If someone remembers what they are, tell me, please. -------------

"Are you scared?" Simon wondered. He and Deena were sitting in the hospital waiting for her first treatment to start. Both their parents were in the hallway. They'd agreed to give the two of them a few minutes alone.

"A little," she admitted softly. "I've been through this all before, but…" she broke off.

"It's okay to be scared," Simon assured her. Just then the adults walked into the room with Deena's doctor.

"Are we ready to get this started?" Dr. Mockly questioned.

"Yes Dr. Mockly," Deena answered trying to put on a brave face.

"It's Pat, Deena, we've known each other since you were five," the doctor corrected her gently.

"I'm ready, Pat," she responded.

"Hold out your right arm, and make a fist, please," the nurse standing at the head of the young girl's bed requested. "That's good, found a good vein," she said inserting the IV. "Okay, we'll start the chemo now. Let us know if you start to feel bad," she instructed.

"Okay," Deena replied watching the contents of the IV bag start to drip down through the tube and into her body. --------------

The treatment lasted about two hours but they kept her overnight to observe her. The three Camden's sat with the Stewart's until it was time for Annie to get the other kids from school. Annie suggested that Simon should go home, but he insisted on staying.

"I'll keep an eye on the kids and will bring Simon home later," Deena's mom offered.

"Okay, thanks," Annie said as she and Eric stood up and left the hospital knowing that Simon was in good hands. The small group was quietly watching a movie when the vomiting started. Deena turned white then green and reached for the basin on her bed side table and started throwing up. Simon and Carol simultaneously reached out to rub the young girls back.

Noting Simon's frightened look, Carol said, "Don't worry, this is a normal part of Chemo."

"Are you sure?" Simon asked timidly. She nodded as she squeezed his hand. It seemed to go on forever but finally she collapsed pale and weak on to the hospital bed.

"Dr. Mockly ordered an IV for nutrients," a redheaded nurse informed them as she walked into the hospital room.

"That's probably a good idea," Deena's dad responded. Smiling softly the nurse nodded as she inserted the IV and hung the bag of supplemental nutrients.

"Unfortunately visiting hours are now over," she said. "Mom and Dad, you can stay if you want, but I'm sorry it's time for you to go home, kiddo," she said addressing Simon. Nodding reluctantly he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss before standing up and following Deena's mom out the door.

"I'll be back soon, sweetie," Carol called to her daughter.

"Kay Mom, bye Simon," Deena called softly as her eyes drifted close and she fell asleep. --------------

The next few months were dominated by school, sitting with Deena whenever he could at the hospital and spending time with his family. Simon was glad that Deena came to school whenever she felt up to it, but he noticed that those times were coming less and less often.

"Hi Simon, was Deena at school today?" Lucy asked as her brother climbed into the van.

"No, that's the third day in a row. Can I go see her after dinner? I know her mom said she got out of the hospital on Monday and she's usually back in school by Wednesday when that happens," Simon commented.

"Sure, your dad will take you," Annie replied.

"Thanks, Mom." ------------

Later that night Simon was sitting in his and Ruthie's room waiting on his dad to finish getting ready when Ruthie walked in.

"I drew this picture for Deena; will you give it to her?"

"Sure I will. I'm sure she'll love it, it's very pretty."

"Will she get better soon?" Ruthie asked.

"I don't know, I hope so," Simon answered. Just then one of the twins started to cry and the other one decided to join in.

"Will they ever stop crying?" Ruthie complained.

"Yes they will. You cried like that when you were a baby," Mary answered as she walked by their room.

"I did?" the eight-year-old asked incredulously. Her older sister nodded as she laughed at Ruthie's awed expression.

"Simon, let's go!" Eric called from the bottom of the stairs.

"Coming Dad," Simon called back hopping of his bed and running for the stairs. ----------------

"Hi Mrs. Stewart, is Deena up for a visitor? Simon wanted to spend sometime with her," Eric asked as Deena's mother opened the door.

"Sure, come on in. It's been a rough couple of days but I'm sure Deena will be glad to see you. She's in the living room, go on in," she urged. Nodding Simon rushed past the two adults and headed for the living room.

"Anything the church or I can help with?" Eric offered.

"No, I'm afraid not. The chemo is causing her to lose her hair, and she lost the last of it on Tuesday morning. She's refusing to go to school. She's afraid of what the other kids will say."

"What about a wig or a hair piece? I know that there's an organization called Locks of Love who creates hair pieces for cancer patients who are children and sells them at a reduced cost.

"We've talked to her about just buying a wig, and she's against that idea. Maybe something like a hair piece from Locks of Love would be okay, though. What's the process to donate the hair?"

"Well, you have to have 10 inches of your hair to donate, go to a salon, have it washed and cut make sure they put it in a ponytail or a braid. Then mail it to the Locks of Love. You can find there address online. I know a lot of people who donate there hair for the cause. Maybe it might be something Deena would be agreeable to knowing that these pieces are made specifically for kids with cancer and other chronic illnesses that cause them to lose their hair.

"I don't know if she'll agree to it, but I'll talk to her. She has to go back to school one way or another. Maybe Simon can convince her to go," Carol lamented.

"I hope so," Eric said on a sigh. -------------------

Meanwhile in the living room.

"Hey there," Simon greeted.

"Hi," Deena mumbled refusing to look at Simon and keeping her head bent. Moving to where she was sitting on the couch he settled next to her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she answered lifting her head. "Accept for the fact that I've lost all my hair and I look like a freak. The kids at school will make fun of me."

"Is that why you haven't been at school?" The young girl nodded. Reaching out Simon tilted her chin until he was looking into her eyes.

"Your beautiful whether you have hair or not. Your the bravest person I know, Deena Margaret Stewart. Anyone who doesn't see that is the one with the problem."

"Oh Simon," she said a stears filled her eyes. Moving his hand to her head he gently ran it across the top of her smooth head.

"Your hair will grow back. In the meantime, what about a wig or a hair piece? I know a girl who donated her hair to Locks of Love and they made a hair piece from it."

"You really think I look beautiful even without myhair?"

"Yes I do," Simon answered honestly.

"Then I'll go back to school, and I'll even come without anything covering my head. I'll think about getting a hair piece, but I may not. I'm proud of who I am." Eric and Carol brushed tears from their eyes at the scene they saw in the living room.

"Simon, it's time to head home," Eric said breaking the silence.

"Okay, bye, Deena, see you at school tomorrow," he said squeezing her hand before getting up and leaving the room. Maybe this will all work out in the end, Deena thought the first real smile she had in months crossing her face.

TBC?

A/n, Read and review.


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